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Zero-point energy (ZPE) is the lowest possible energy that a quantum mechanical system may have. Unlike in classical mechanics, quantum systems constantly fluctuate in their lowest energy state as described by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. [1] Therefore, even at absolute zero, atoms and molecules retain some vibrational motion.
In quantum field theory, the quantum vacuum state (also called the quantum vacuum or vacuum state) is the quantum state with the lowest possible energy. Generally, it contains no physical particles. The term zero-point field is sometimes used as a synonym for the vacuum state of a quantized field which is completely individual. [clarification ...
In the sci-fi television/film franchise Stargate, a Zero Point Module (ZPM) is a power source that extracts zero-point energy from a micro parallel universe. [12] The book Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual describes the operating principle of the so-called quantum torpedo. In this fictional weapon, an antimatter reaction is used to ...
Energy levels for an electron in an atom: ground state and excited states. After absorbing energy, an electron may jump from the ground state to a higher-energy excited state. The ground state of a quantum-mechanical system is its stationary state of lowest energy; the energy of the ground state is known as the zero-point energy of the system.
The energy levels increase with , meaning that high energy levels are separated from each other by a greater amount than low energy levels are. The lowest possible energy for the particle (its zero-point energy ) is found in state 1, which is given by [ 10 ] E 1 = ℏ 2 π 2 2 m L 2 = h 2 8 m L 2 . {\displaystyle E_{1}={\frac {\hbar ^{2}\pi ^{2 ...
The treatment of boundary conditions in these calculations is controversial. In fact, "Casimir's original goal was to compute the van der Waals force between polarizable molecules" of the conductive plates. Thus it can be interpreted without any reference to the zero-point energy (vacuum energy) of quantum fields. [19]
It is convenient to define a characteristic vibrational temperature , = where is experimentally determined for each vibrational mode by taking a spectrum or by calculation. By taking the zero point energy as the reference point to which other energies are measured, the expression for the partition function becomes = =, /
3D visualization of quantum fluctuations of the quantum chromodynamics (QCD) vacuum [1]. In quantum physics, a quantum fluctuation (also known as a vacuum state fluctuation or vacuum fluctuation) is the temporary random change in the amount of energy in a point in space, [2] as prescribed by Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.